Practical projects and tips for the backyard DIY fanatic
Stevia: The French Alternative Stevia is a herb said to be 2000 times as sweet as sugar. It can be used as a substitute for sugar in some recipes however, it does not provide the preserving & setting qualities that sugar brings nor the texture. It does provide a...
Turkish Pots Marea Hudson visits Turkey four times every year and brings back container loads of pots, marble baths, fountains, tiles and textiles. Most of the beautiful old pots are between 30 and 150 years old, but some are as old as 400 years. The pots and jars...
Funky Furniture Lionel Larkin sculpts furniture that is functional, funky, and often portrays his wicked sense of humour. A qualified cabinet maker, antique restorer and French-polisher, he previously worked with The Melbourne Theatre Company, Channel 9 and Channel 7,...
Urban Courtyard Landscape designer Rick Eckersley believes that as properties are getting smaller, the multipurpose courtyard that doubles as a carport, an entertaining area, or a play area for children, is the way of the future. His garden design for a modern family...
Greek Pots At "The House of Zeus" in East Kew in Victoria, you won’t find the Greek king of the gods, but you will find some marvellous, hand made Mediterranean pottery. The pots are imported by Theo Kyrkilis, who set up his showroom with the aim of...
Urban Courtyard 2 When landscape designer Rick Eckersley first saw the tiny backyard of this Melbourne home, he was confronted by two small patches of badly drained, half dead lawn. Undeterred, Rick set to work on his design, aiming to create an extension of indoor...
House Facelift The subject of our makeover was a red brick house with a very unattractive front garden, steps and balcony. Don thought the red bricks were very relentless, but decided he could work around them. However the colour of the trim on the woodwork, railings...
Window Cleaning Of all the irksome household chores, cleaning windows has to be right up there with the ironing. Commercial cleaners, soap and water, newspaper and other methods all work reasonably well, but there has to be a better way! Peter Valder recommends the...
House of Riverstones Don and the Burke’s Backyard team visited a fascinating house which was built thirty years ago using local riverstones, and extensively renovated by the present owners. The original exterior walls look particularly attractive with...
Kitchen Design Kitchens can cost anything between $12,000 and $50,000 to install or renovate. They are also the most used rooms in the house so you really want to get it right. The wrong decision can be costly both financially and structurally. There are some kitchen...